14. Boring

A/N: OKAY SO NOT AN EXCUSE, but I wanted to post this earlier but FIRSTLY I was at the hospital bc the writers curse has caught up to me and SECONDLY I was babysitting, anywaysss enjoy...

The locker room is a mess of cheers, chirping, and the sound of gear hitting the floor. The energy is high—jokes flying, guys shoving each other, riding the high of a hard-fought win. My body aches from the game, but I'm too wired to care.

I changed in one of the bathroom stools and came out to sit on the bench.

"Not bad for a first-time goalie," Vince teases, tossing a roll of tape at me.

I catch it and throw it right back. "Don't get used to it."

"Too late," Jax grins, peeling off his jersey. "You're officially our emergency backup now."

"Pass."

The guys laugh, but I know they won't let it go. Across the room, Grayson sits on the bench, towel draped around his neck, hair still damp from his post-game shower. He's quiet, watching the chaos unfold with his usual unreadable expression.

And his shirtless self was definitely captivating...

I'm about to start putting away my skates when my dad walks in. His expression is still proud, but now laced with something else—responsibility.

"Callie," he says, stopping in front of me. "I have to head back to the school—some paperwork came up. Can you find another ride home?"

I blink up at him. "Yeah, sure."

He nods, claps my shoulder, then turns toward the rest of the team. "Good game, boys."

They mumble their thanks, and just like that, he's gone.

"Guess that means you're stuck with one of us," Gabe smirks.

I roll my eyes, glancing around. Most of them live in different directions, but my best option is obvious. I turn toward Grayson. "You driving home?"

His brows lift slightly, like he wasn't expecting me to ask. "Yeah."

"Cool. I'm riding with you."

He doesn't argue, just nods. Easy enough.

Then Dylan pipes up. "We're heading to Max's party after this. You guys coming?"

I turn to Grayson. "Let's go."

His expression is unimpressed. "You serious?"

"Why not? We just won, and I feel like celebrating."

He exhales through his nose, like he already regrets letting me in his car, but I can see the exact moment he caves.

"Fine," he mutters, shaking his head. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Max's house is packed. Music pulses through the walls, and the air is thick with the smell of alcohol and smoke. People are everywhere—dancing, laughing, playing drinking games in the kitchen.

The second we step inside, Grayson gets pulled into a conversation with some of the guys, and I drift toward the kitchen, grabbing a drink. The burn of vodka and whatever juice they mixed it with goes down easy, a warm buzz already settling in.

I weave through the crowd, finding Alexis near the speakers, swaying to the music with a few other girls.

"Didn't think you'd show," she teases, her eyes flicking to my cup. "Guess I was wrong."

I smirk. "Figured I'd let loose a little."

And I do. The night blurs into dancing, drinks, and laughter. I lose track of time, but I feel good—lighter than I have in a while. I even catch sight of Grayson actually enjoying himself, arm slung around Jax's shoulders as they talk and laugh.

Tess texts me out of nowhere and I'm quick to reply, she's been trying to get her dad to send her to my school, her dads quite shitty, he probably wouldn't care if she left but he would never leave the city himself.

Tess: So my dad hasn't said yes yet, but I'm in town because he pissed me off, where are you? x

At some party, I'll send you the address!!

Then, as I'm grabbing another drink, someone slides up beside me.

"Didn't expect to see you here," a voice says.

I turn to find a guy leaning against the counter, dark-haired, sharp-jawed, easy confidence in his stance. He's definitely not from Lakehurst—too put-together, too much city in his smirk.

"Yeah? And who are you?" I ask, arching a brow.

"Ryan," he says. "And you?"

"Callie."

His smirk deepens. "Pretty name for a pretty girl."

I snort, but I don't walk away. He's easy to talk to, and maybe it's the alcohol, but I'm actually enjoying it.

I don't notice Grayson at first, but when I glance across the room, I find him watching. His jaw is tight, arms crossed as he leans against the wall, eyes locked on me and Ryan.

For some reason, that makes me smile.

So I lean in closer to Ryan, tilting my head just enough to make sure Grayson sees.

I'm not the petty type, but if it means that this idiot will forget about everything and have some fun I'll be a little petty.

"So... Ryan, do you wanna go somewhere more private." I pretend to slur. Without another word the Ryan dude is dragging me away, talking me out side max's quite large house.

Going round the front and to the side of the house I decided to question my new friend further.

"You don't go to my school so how'd you know there was a party?" I questioned the light blonde guy, who was shorter than most guys on my dad's hockey team.

"I'm on the titans team, saw you play, you looked good out there, newbie." Ryan took a step toward, making the small space between us more tense and uncomfortable.

It was uneasy, "yeah, I'm not too interested in some fucked up team who breaks people's legs, sorry dude." I backed up, before realising theres not much space between me and the house behind, making me crash into the wall.

He again stepped closer, pressing himself up against me and caressing my cheek, "it's not like I was the one who did it babe." He slurred his final words.

"You're drunk Ryan, you need to get off me." I stayed calm, knowing he couldn't do anything to me in a public space, as long as I kept him distracted.

I felt uncomfortable not yet scared or in fear, the guy was just drunk after all, I could smell the beer as he breathed, as if it had already gone stale, the thoughts making me gag slightly.

His eyes flickered down to mine, no longer circling my features.

"You don't want that though do you Callie, the way you was all over me inside, you want me." He pushed up closer than before physically hurting me against the hard wall of the house.

I winced before my hands went to his chest to push him, "you're hurting me!" I bashed my hands against his chest, too weak to get him away.

Okay so... now it's fear.

Callie's drunk. I knew it was coming the second she grabbed the first drink, she was across the room, leaning into some guy like she wanted to piss me off.

And it's worked.

Now she's off somewhere with him and I can't do shit.

I don't know why I care. She can do whatever she wants. But something about the way Ryan—Ryan? What kind of name is that?—looked at her makes my skin crawl.

I take a sip from my soda, jaw clenching as she laughs at something he says.

"You're searching for her," Jax says, appearing beside me.

I don't look away. "No, I'm not."

Jax huffs a laugh. "Dude. You've been watching her all night."

I ignore him, but I know it's true, I mean it's not like I want too... it's just because I was in charge of taking the girl home and my coach is her father.

It's not like I would do this if I didn't have to take her home...

Anyways it's a party, I'll let her have her fun, even if it's with some guy with a shit name.

"Hey! Grayson!" The tall curly headed girl with a family face came running over to me, throwing her arms loosely around me in a friendly way.

When she looked back up at me I took in who it was, "Oh my fucking god, Primrose!" My twin sister's childhood friend stood right in front of me with her big smile.

her dark curls were a mix of tight and loose waves. showing the warm undertones of her skin, in the sharp contrast of her dark eyes and lighter freckles. She carried herself like she knew exactly who she was—even when the rest of the world tried to put her in a box.

Primrose laughed, giving me a playful shove. "Damn, it's been a minute, huh? Didn't think I'd run into you at some random house party."

I let out a breath of disbelief, shaking my head. "Yeah, no kidding. What the hell are you even doing in Lakehurst?"

She smirked. "Visiting family. Figured I'd crash a party while I was here. Lucky me."

Jax, who'd been watching with mild amusement, finally chimed in. "Wait, you know Prim?"

"She was my sister's best friend," I explained, a hint of something heavier settling in my chest. "Basically grew up in my house."

Jax nodded like that made sense, but Prim just looped her arm through mine and grinned. "And now I'm here to get you out of your brooding little bubble."

I snorted. "I'm not brooding."

Jax let out a loud, exaggerated cough that sounded a lot like bullshit.

Prim just raised a brow. "Grayson, I watched you for a solid minute before I walked over. You looked like you were about to start throwing punches at the air."

I rolled my eyes but didn't bother denying it. Instead, Prim didn't let go of me as she pulled me toward the beer pong table, her grip firm but lighthearted. She was always like this—had been since we were kids. She knew how to get me out of my own head, how to distract me from whatever was eating away at me. And right now, I needed that more than I wanted to admit.

"Alright, Captain, I know you suck at beer pong, but let's see if you've improved," she teased, grabbing a ball and tossing it toward my chest.

I caught it easily, scoffing. "I don't suck."

Vince, still smug from his last shot, grinned. "You kinda do."

Prim gasped, fake-offended. "No way. Not Grayson Maverick, the golden boy of Lakehurst hockey. Tell me you have at least one flaw."

I rolled my eyes but smirked. "You say that like you didn't see me wipe out on my driveway a million times when we were kids."

Jax, sipping his drink, perked up. "Oh, now this I wanna hear."

Prim's grin widened. "Oh, it was beautiful. Grayson's mom bought him and his sister those shitty rollerblades from Walmart—"

"They weren't shitty," I muttered, tossing the ping pong ball. It bounced off the rim of the cup, and Vince and Tyler burst out laughing.

Prim ignored me. "They were awful. Anyway, we thought we were cool as hell, but then—boom. Gray hits a tiny-ass rock and eats pavement so hard I swear the whole neighborhood heard it."

Jax was full-on grinning now. "Dude. What?"

"I still have the scar," I muttered, pointing to the faint line on my elbow.

Prim snorted. "Yeah, and you cried so hard your mom had to bribe you with ice cream just to get you to stop."

Vince nearly doubled over laughing, and even Tyler, who usually kept his reactions to a smirk, let out a short chuckle.

"Jesus, Prim," I muttered, shaking my head. "That was, like, ten years ago."

"Doesn't make it less funny," she shot back.

Jax was still laughing when he nudged me. "Man, I don't think I've ever seen someone roast you this bad."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help the way my shoulders relaxed. It was nice—reminiscing, joking around, actually having fun for once instead of feeling like I had to watch over everything.

Prim leaned against the counter, shaking her head fondly. "God, I miss this. Hanging out with you and—" Her voice faltered for a second, but she recovered quickly. "—your sister. We were like a little trio of chaos."

My chest tightened. "Yeah. We were."

It was quiet for a beat, just long enough for the weight of it to settle. But Prim, like always, didn't let it linger. She nudged me. "Remember when she made us swear we'd never tell anyone about the treehouse?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Yeah, because she thought if we told, someone else would try to claim it."

Jax raised a brow. "Treehouse?"

Prim smirked. "Not just any treehouse. The treehouse. We found it in the woods behind Grayson's house, half-rotted and probably full of raccoons, but we swore it was ours. Spent a whole summer fixing it up."

Vince leaned in. "How bad was it?"

Prim laughed. "It was so bad. We didn't know what we were doing, we just stole nails from Grayson's dad's garage and hammered random boards onto it. We thought it was a masterpiece."

I grinned. "We even made a sign—'No Adults Allowed.'"

Jax snorted. "That's kinda badass, not gonna lie."

Prim's smile softened. "Yeah. It was."

The conversation drifted from there—more stories, more laughter, old memories that made me forget, even for just a little while, about the party around us. About the fact that Callie was still gone.

But as much as I tried to ignore it, that nagging feeling in my chest never really left. And when my eyes flicked toward the back of the house again, Jax caught me.

His smirk was gone now, replaced with something more knowing. "Dude."

I didn't answer.

Prim followed his gaze, then sighed. "You really don't know how to relax, huh?"

I clenched my jaw. "I told her I'd take her home."

Jax crossed his arms. "You also told yourself you wouldn't do this if you didn't have to."

I didn't have an answer for that either.

I groaned, running a hand through my hair. "Why does everyone feel the need to comment on my life tonight?"

"Because you're bad at pretending you don't care," Jax said with a smirk.

I ignored him and turned back to the game, trying to shake the tension in my shoulders. The party buzzed around me—music loud, people laughing, the smell of cheap beer and something vaguely burned in the air. It wasn't a bad night. It should've been fun.

And yet, I still didn't know where Callie was.

——————

A/N: OKAY SO I LOVE PRIMROSE!

Also should I do a side character thing with their names and a picture reference of them or no?

Words: 2492